Remothered: Tormented Fathers/plot
Prologue The game opens with a flash forward sequence between an elderly Madame Svenska and journalist Mr. Manni who is not shown throughout the scene. The man wonders about an illness that has the ability to accelerate the healing process of the body, such as thickening the bones and regenerating tissue due to the proliferation of moths making a nest inside the human body where they feed and multiply. The woman explains that "Svenska" is just a moniker given to her because of the time she spent living in Sweden for the past 30 years. She doesn't reveal her true identity, as she believes "a name doesn't tell us who we really are." It is only through growing old she finally answers the questions of her childhood. Madame Svenska returned to Italy having forgotten the reason why, but promised to remember. She starts playing a song on her record player as her memories unveil the forgotten story. The Arrival Somewhere in the 1970s, Rosemary Reed, a mysterious 35-year old woman, sits in a white van, smoking a cigarette in front of an abandoned playground near the Felton's residence, where the Feltons' daughter, Celeste, disappeared out of the blue in October of 1971. The story of her disappearance became a news topic for the following two years. Ms. Reed glances through some medical files of a patient named Richard Felton, who is affected by the disease that had gotten worse with age, to the point he retired from his notarial career. She then holds a picture of a young girl stashed underneath with the name "Jennifer" written on the back. Reaching the Felton manor, Ms. Reed introduces herself over the intercom as a doctor from the Santa Margherita Institute, where Mr. Felton was treated. The woman on the intercom briskly replies that Mr. Felton is no longer a patient and hangs up. Sneaking through the half open gate, Rosemary enters the property and reaches to the main door of the villa, where she is greeted by Gloria, Dr. Felton's quiet nurse. She shows no interest initially, but as Rosemary unveils her intention to look into the man's illness with alternative remedies, Gloria invites her in. She apologizes for the poor lighting inside, as she reveals Mr. Felton's illness caused him to be visually impaired and forced him to live in the darkness. Disappearance Gloria escorts Rosemary to Dr. Felton study, rather inclined to disclose unknown details about the man's private life and his relationships with his wife, Arianna Felton. Gloria describes Arianna as a reserved, isolated person who spends most of her time in her bedroom listening to the same music on the record player. As she waits for Richard in his study, she begins to snoop around his office and finds a newspaper article in his desk about the contamination of the fields at the RossoGallo farm which led the nuns of Cristo Morente covent, who worked on the fields, to become infected with disease. The wealthy Ashmann family, whose children became sick as well, alerted the public about the contamination, causing RossoGallo, Felton and his business partner Albert Elias Wyman to go under intense scrutiny, resulting in the farm being closed on October 2, 1971. Mr. Felton then accused Wyman of carrying out illegal experiments using the company funds, which Wyman denied as he claimed Felton himself funded him to continue his development of Phenoxyl, a drug that was recalled from the market due its side effects. On the back of of the newspaper Rosemary finds a threatening message from Wyman, claiming to know the identity of Celeste's real father. Dr. Reed then notices a huge painting depicting a young woman looking at pair of demonic hands above her head and becomes deeply invested in it. She is interrupted by Richard who walks in babbling about religion. Richard reveals how he contracted the disease in 1958 during a trip to Egypt, and how the institute was unable to cure him. Rosemary mentions the symptoms from Richard's medical files, including the hormone deficiency and overdose of Phenoxyl, ''and how Felton refused to go through the exams at the clinic. The conversation begins to tense up when she mentions his daughter Celeste, asking about her adoption and her birth parents. She asks if Albert Wyman was a potential suspect in Celeste's disappearance, but Felton denies the claim since they found no evidence. Both the police and Felton came to a conclusion that Celeste intentionally left. Dr. Reed suddenly brings up "''Jennifer," a name Richard sometimes called Celeste by, which surprises Felton. Rosemary takes out a picture of a girl with ''My sweet Jennifer" inscribed on its back, which angers Richard. Unable to get any answers about Celeste, the woman retaliates that she should go speak to Felton's wife instead. He claims she's not at home, but the music begins to play in the room above suggesting she is, like Gloria mentioned. Gloria barges in informing Mr. Felton that the institute had never heard of a "Dr. Reed". Richard asks Rosemary to leave his property without answering her question about what happened to Celeste. Before leaving, Rosemary looks back at Richard, who stares at the picture of the little girl, before Gloria shuts the door. At the front door, Gloria scolds Ms. Reed for using the Feltons' personal lives for her own gain. Reed responds there was a motiviation behind Celeste's disappearance which threatened her life, and then seemingly walks off property. Nightmare At 8 o'clock in the evening, Rosemary watches Gloria leaving the house. She grabs the keys the nurse hid behind the small altar at the gates and sneaks in. As she hears the music playing from upstairs, she remembers Gloria's words about Mrs. Felton's obsession with the record player. The music draws her to a particular room in search of Richard's wife, but instead she discovers an unidentifiable mummified corpse covered with moths. Rosemary's commotion over the discovery draws Felton's attention, forcing her to conceal herself. From her hiding spot she sees a deranged Richard conversing with the corpse and tenderly calling it "Jennifer". The ex-notary then roams the halls armed with a sickle searching for the intruder, and Rosemary realises she has entered a deadly game of cat and mouse. Managing to avoid detection, Rosemary comes across a film depicting Richard during a hypnosis session under the influence of the drug Phenoxyl. During the session Felton confesses that him and Arianna were supposed to be protecting Celeste from someone. He then reveals that Celeste had in fact returned to the Villa after her disappearance, but she had changed somehow and became "Jennifer," ''a figure from Richard's past. Felton remembers how his father hurt him to prevent him from her, yet Richard still "kept wanting her." Before Rosemary gets to the end of the video, Richard aggresses her from behind, tying a catchpole loop around her neck and hanging her against the wall. Richard burns the film and keeps pleading his innocence, claiming he never touched his daughter for she was the only bond between him and his wife. However he soon realises he did murder Celeste in her bedroom, as he was told by a mysterious figure who promised to free him from torment. Rosemary is shocked and disgusted, but Felton insists he had no choice as it was the only way to stop "Jennifer." Then the old notary unveils a painting kept upright the desk, depicting a red-dressed nun, before which he devotly bows. Rosemary uses the opportunity and manages to free herself from the loop but, right before she gets to the studio doors, she is assaulted by the same nun portrayed in the painting, swarming with moths and speaking with a hoarse and broken voice, calling her "Sister". ''Violence Having run away from the Red Nun, Rosemary glimpses at a white-dressed, blonde young girl reaching the attic. Is that Celeste… or Jennifer? Rosemary starts having serious doubts about the true identity of the dead body in the bedroom, but she finds no trace of the corpse any longer, just an old picture featuring the twelve nuns who died in the fire. As it is written on the back of the picture, one of the nuns survived, that one being the daughter of the Ashmanns, who were in charge of running the farm. She appeared in Felton’s house shortly after Celeste’s return, seeking vengeance for using her and the others in the Phenoxyl experiments. Rosemary comes to the conclusion that the message was written by Mrs. Felton, locked in the bedroom with her recently-returned daughter. Both of them were forced to undergo heavy mesmerism sessions with the aim of progressively erasing their memory. However Arianna realised that she could blind the nun and even kill the moths using cortisone. Rosemary reaches the loft, turned into a narrow and frightening workshop with dummies and dolls. She spots an old picture showing a door, with scribbles on it, as if someone had tried to remove it from the scene, next to a painting that Rosemary thinks she has seen before in the house. Shortly after, Rosemary is attacked by the fearful figure of a blonde haired “doll” armed with a hammer who pushes her from the loft entry. Rosemary wakes up and finds herself in front of a turned-on TV: the reporter is saying that the authorities are trailing a woman suspected of aggressing a phone line repairman and stealing his van and his folders searching for information. Rosemary knows she is that woman and that the police are after her. The “doll” that aggressed her before is sitting in an armchair, watching TV as well. This time, she proves useful for the investigation, saying that the door in the picture is no longer there, suggesting that she looks for “a wall behind the fireplace”. There Rosemary discovers a passage leading to an unused corridor. She finds a plastered wall that she manages to break through by pushing an old statue against it. That is how she finds Celeste’s room, locked for years, bearing the marks of a ruthless crime. Shortly after, a noise is heard resembling the electric vibration of an old record player. Rosemary finds a hidden recorder. In her recording Celeste tells how she ran away once and then came back because she was homesick. Once back, she would repeatedly be forced to sit for mesmerism sessions in order for her to forget about “something”, and segregated in her bedroom with her mother. There, she would plan her escape by opening a breach in the wall cavity leading to the attic, her only way out. She would still have to leave her mother behind, as Arianna became too weak and unable to move. When the recording is over, Rosemary is caught by a strong headache, fighting her deep fear of mirrors and the hallucination of the deceased Mrs. Felton, created by the moths. After she successfully conquered the battle, the moths lead her towards a wardrobe closet, where the escape path is hidden that Celeste used to leave the house. It is a slippery path, though, and she ends up falling down into the house foundations, deep down to the sewage drain. Torment After the fall, Rosemary manages to escape from the sewers safe and sound. She finds herself in the cellar of the villa where the Feltons were involved in the distribution of RossoGallo farm products. Terrified Rosemary discovers the real cause of Felton’s obsession with his daughter and the reason why he used to call her "Jennifer": Felton is actually a woman. She was born as Jennifer Richardine Felton, however her abusive father who wanted a son forced her to live as a man named Richard. That was the reason for hormone imbalances and the refusal to undergo detailed examinations at the institute. The more Celeste was growing, the more Felton remembered the girl he once was. Felton convinced himself that by killing his daughter he could destroy the Jennifer left in him, who kept tormenting him and whom even the Phenoxyl wasn’t able to completely erase, but just tame. Jennifer finds and chases Rosemary in the underground cellar, but Rosemary runs away and finds shelter in the elevator in a desperate attempt to reach the attic to the escape route. Unfortunately, the old elevator blocks. Luckily, Gloria arrives at the villa and suggests to join her in the infirmary where both of them would be safe. They both meet up as Rosemary runs into the room, panicking and worrying, while Gloria prepares an infusion to calm her down. Rosemary disgusted about the whole story realising that the Phenoxyl could have been the cause of everything. She informs Gloria that Felton killed his wife, and of his real identity, Jennifer, which Gloria is revealed to be aware of as she was resposible for Felton's mesmerism sessions. Accused by Rosemary for being an accomplice, Gloria justifies herself, saying she didn't intend to turn Felton in to a killer. Gloria then gives Rosemary the medication and after a few sips Rosemary starts to question how Gloria managed to get into the house since she didn't have the keys. Rosemary realises Gloria let her break into the villa on purpose. Gloria, who reveals herself to be the Red Nun, taunts Rosemary in a harsh broken voice as drugged Rosemary loses consciousness. Gloria, daughter of the Ashmanns, has been subjected of the prototype 2 of Phenoxyl, the side effects of which were photosensitivity disturbances and filamentary keratopathy with an extreme allergy to cortisone. Rosemary knows now that she can blind Gloria, so she obtains a syringe with some cortisone and gets ready to fight. Shortly after she walks out the infirmary, she is hit in the head by Felton. Pain In a dreamlike sequence, she hears Felton’s voice who asks her why all this is so important for her. Inexplicably, a song comes to Rosemary’s mind. Gloria stops Felton from talking by cutting off his tongue. Felton is again heavily under the effect of Phenoxyl, so he can hold off his alter ego, Jennifer. As Rosemary is being tied to the chair, Gloria violently strikes her and accuses her of starting the fire that killed the nuns in the convent. Rosemary realises she was a member of Cristo Morente herself. She apologises but it's too late for Gloria. She convinces Felton to sprinkle kerosene to burn himself with the house, so Rosemary could die in the same manner the nuns did. Rosemary manages to free herself with the broken chandelier and throws lighter at Felton, who burns to death. As Rosemary reaches the elevator, Gloria attacks her but is then stabbed by Rosemary with the cortisone-filled syringe. The terrible immediate effect causes Gloria to writhe in agony while Rosemary reaches the attic hearing the screams of her sister on the floor below her. Rosemary realizes that cortisone by itself is not enough to stop Gloria. In a deadly game of cat and mouse Rosemary finds the switch to open the windows of the attic. Gloria is blinded by the sunlight due to brain impulses caused by extreme photosensitivity. Because of the unbearable suffering, she stabs her eyes out with a glass shard, relying only on her hearing. Rosemary makes noise while unlocking the window. Gloria jumps on her in a fury and falls out of the window into the courtyard below. Forgiveness Rosemary reaches her dying sister and can't help feeling sorry for her. After so much hate and violence they forgive each other. They realize that, just as Felton, they've been victims of Phenoxyl, a drug which was created for veterans of war suffering from PTSD. Wyman found a way to mix the drug with the moths in a desperate attempt to achieve more memory alteration results. Soon, it was used on the nuns of Cristo Morente who saw it as a divine sign. However, Rosemary, who didn't share the nuns' beliefs, was able to see it for what it really was: weaponized science. It's implied she tried to put an end to the fanatical experiments by burning everything, but she still can't remember why she killed the nuns. Rosemary realizes that Felton was the one who made Celeste leave, in order to protect her from the terrifying things he had discovered and from Jennifer who threatened her from within. Gloria is in pain from her wounds, but also from her memories. She confides that she really believes that Rosemary will find Celeste and on that day they will meet on "Top of the World". She hopes that God and Rosemary will forgive her someday, but Rosemary cries that she already did. Gloria laughs as she gives her last breath that forgiveness was a bad habit of Rosemary, mirroring the joke about smoking. Rosemary receives an old piano key from Gloria and then hugs her. Through the tears she realizes where the key comes from: the piano in Celeste’s room. Rosemary returns to Celeste’s room and sadly approaches the piano where the key is missing. She strums a few keys on to find that something is blocking the cords of the instrument. She curiously lifts the cover where she finds an engraved heart on the wood saying “''2 hearts never lonely''”. Inside the piano there is an old bag with a tag saying “Flemmington Girls Institute”. Rosemary still hasn’t found the answers she was looking for, but she’s convinced of the fact that she must not give up. In her heart she believes Celeste is still alive and with endless hope she knows where to find her. References Category:Plot subpages